Hey Mark,
As a current owner of a 2016 Fiesta ST, I absolutely love the car as I learned to drive stick on it! It is incredibly fun, a perfect daily and I get 30 mpg city driving in it. However, I always had a love for Mustangs. I have been eyeing the a ’17 Race Red GT Premium with the Performance Pack. I recently bought a townhouse in suburban Chicago with a two car garage. I figured I would keep the ST since it is paid off and use the GT as my weekend/fun 3 season car even though the Fiesta is paid off and I would have to finance the GT. I was debating trading in the ST, but I am afraid I would miss it too much and not to mention take the depreciation hit. I did love the GT after the test drive!
I can swing the payments on the GT to keep both cars, but here is the catch….I hate my job.
I work 10-11 hours a day (12-13 including commute) in banking operations (don’t ask) and some days I just want to get up an quit. However, some days it is tolerable and I did finally hit 6 figures in salary this year; so this makes me want to buy new things. I am recently single and just turned 32. If I get the GT, I could still save money, but it would cost me 800/month between the car payment (635), insurance (100) and gas (65). As an slightly older, wiser man who has a love for cars, what would you do in my shoes?
-Screw it and get the GT. Life is too short not to enjoy it!
-Trade in the Fiesta to save on the purchase price of GT and get snow/winter tires
-Keep the ST and just wait it out another 6 months or so
Or any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks Mark!
I might be the very best person in the world to answer this question, as I did own a Boss 302 and a Fiesta ST concurrently for about eight months. You may not know or remember this, but I got rid of my Boss because I never, ever drove it. Nearly every time that I walked out to my garage, I chose the FiST for that day’s dirty work.
The FiST is just a better daily driver—it’s more comfortable, it’s easier on your wallet from a gas perspective, it’s easier to park (especially since it sounds like you work in the city), and you won’t cry as much when somebody opens a door into it or bangs into it while street parking.
If you have track aspirations, I’m still going to lean toward the FiST. It’s tough on brake pads, but will otherwise be significantly cheaper to track than a Mustang.
Normally I am the “life is too short not to enjoy it!” guy, but not in this case. I’m going to recommend that you keep the FiST, save your cash, and keep that second garage space open for the occasional female overnight visitor (or male, no judgment here). Then, take that loot and buy something super cool/crazy in the future that makes a little more sense as a Sunday driver. Maybe a GT350R. Yes, that sounds like a good plan.
Send me emails! I might even occasionally answer one. Fire your questions to barkm302@gmail.com.